With no answer yet, I thought the topic is no more a subject for research but when looking for the term in SSRN site http://www.ssrn.com I had right to hundreds of really new papers 1013-14 all with downloadable full texts ! Here I choose with respect to the question:

For an introduction (definitions, frameworks…): “Corporate Social Responsibility in a Global Context” http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2322817

For a benchmark (indexes, scales…): “The Foundations of Corporate Social Responsibility” http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2360633

I can add: For EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0681:FIN:EN:PDF

And for the news: http://www.csrwire.com/

BTW, I always thought CSR to be a political construct! But you’ll find thanks to the paper I cited above as a benchmark, interesting results, mainly (1) Legal origins are more fundamental sources of CSR than firms’ financial performance; and (2) Political institutions are not preconditions for CSR and sustainability, and sometimes even hinder CSR implementation!

thnx dear Abdessamad Mouzoune. :)

Dear Sana, there is no straightforward answer to your questions, since we can found several proposals of CSR conceptualization as well as of its measurement in the literature. Depending on the level of analysis you are conducting your research you can use different methods (surveys, content analysis, indicators…). I have revised the literature about these issues on my previous work. I believe it can be helpful to answer your questions. Here are the links:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235428586_Corporate_social_responsibility_from_an_employees_perspective_Contributes_for_understanding_job_attitudes?ev=prf_pub

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231182945_Corporate_social_responsibility_mapping_its_social_meaning?ev=prf_pub

All the best, Patricia

Thesis Corporate social responsibility from an employees’ perspecti...

Article Corporate social responsibility: Mapping its social meaning

You might find the works in the journal Business&Society relevant here as well as the papers and symposia in the Social Issues in Management DIvision of the Academy of Management. There is a huge, varied literature on this topic--here are some referencs you might find of value: "Corporate social performance revisited: Dimensions of efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency" SA Waddock, JF Mahon Research in corporate social performance and policy 12, 231-262; Corporate social performance profiling: using multiple stakeholder perceptions to assess a corporate reputation

J Mahon, SL Wartick, Journal of Public Affairs 12 (1), 12-28

Corporate Social Responsibility is a contested concept so you can expect to find a wide range of answers. With co-authors Andrew Crane and Dirk Matten, we concluded that there were however six recurrent core themes: CSR is voluntary, involves internalizing or managing externalities, has multiple stakeholder orientations, aligns social and economics responsibilities, is about both practices and values and goes beyond philanthropy. The chapter in which we discuss these is available on Research Gate at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228123773_Corporate_Social_Responsibility_In_Global_Context?ev=prf_pub

New version of this book is out recently in case anyone is interested: Crane, A. Matten, D. and Spence, L.J. (eds) (2013), 2nd edn, Corporate Social Responsibility: Readings and Cases in a Global Context, Routledge, London. Best of luck with the research. Regards, Laura Spence

Article Corporate Social Responsibility: In Global Context

Everyone seems to be saying the same thing—there is no one answer of what corporate social responsibility is, and that corporate social responsibility is a contested concept. But more than that, and to the point, it's an oxymoron, like business ethics. In reality, there is no such thing as corporate responsibility. It is a type of 'corporate speak' similar to Orwell's 'double speak'—"peace means war." Being a 'good' corporate citizen and giving money to a charity is about PR and managing perception. While to Laura's point, I understand it is more than that. Nevertheless, corporate social responsibility can only be relational and within a closed system, similar to 'best practices' within a particular sector.

Neoliberalism and deregulation have surely demonstrated that left to their own governance, corporations act in self-interested ways to maximize profit. All the theories in the world are not going to change that. If they are not regulated they act in very irresponsible ways. We see the complete opposite of social responsibility through the entire economic system from resource extraction and environmental degradation, to production that uses slave/child labour and engages in union busting, to selling products that we don't need by manipulating us. All of these claims and many more can be empirically demonstrated.

Even social entrepreneurs and charities act within the confines of a closed system. A 'poor bank,' while a great idea, is still based on usury and charge, in the case of Grameen Bank, 20% interest. If we stand outside of this reified system we quickly realize that it is an absurd notion based on what the Frankfurt School called 'instrumental rationality', whereby something is highly rational within it's own context but is completely irrational outside of that context—i.e. terraforming Mars.

It has been argued that corporate behaviour is sociopathic–it manipulates and acts sympathetically but has no real remorse for it's actions. It thinks only of its' own interests and ends with little regard for means. Surely the state of the world is proof enough. Part of being socially responsible is taking responsibility for your actions, and I have never seen this to be the case—BP. I am not casting judgement, I just think individuals and entities should not delude themselves. Rather than being a wolf in sheep's clothing, be what it is you are, a wolf and make no apologies for it.

If anyone is interested in collaborating on a paper looking at corporate responsibility in a new way, incorporating the social sciences and social and cultural theory, I would be open to that. One of the problems is that there's a growing gap between the discourses above and the discourse that I am representing... there needs to be more cooperation and collaboration between these to camps if either side is to be taken seriously. I am often perplexed by the fact that sociologists are under utilized in both business and technology.

Guy

An extensive literature review will surely yield a wide set of

definitions of CSR. Yet, there is still no consensus on an appropriate definition

which encapsulates CSR. This research area is attracting

researchers from different backgrounds; bringing different values,

ideologies and perspectives in shaping and formulating CSR theory.

Personally, I like the notions of strategic CSR, Shared Value (Porter and Kramer 2011) and Systematic CSR / CSR 2.0 (Visser, 2012) . In a recent communication, the European Union (EU) Commission (2011) encouraged enterprises to adopt a long term, strategic approach to CSR to maximise the "creation of shared value"; Y

“To maximise the creation of shared value, enterprises are encouraged

to adopt a long-term, strategic approach to CSR, and to explore the

opportunities for developing innovative products, services and

business models that contribute to societal wellbeing and lead to

higher quality and more productive jobs” (EU, 2011).

You may look at my thesis, entitled: Creating Shared Value through Strategic CSR in Tourism. I have developed a model which is empirically grounded. It also pushes forward the Resource Based View, the Stakeholder Theory and the notion of Shared Value.

Should you need further details pl let me know!

Cheers,

Mark

No universally accepted definition exists, but there are some widely accepted ones.

I will provide some links to papers that analyse the definitions of CSR.

https://www.academia.edu/419517/Corporate_Social_Responsibility_Evolution_of_a_Definitional_Construct

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csr.132/full

I think that the definition of CSR depends on the context of the research (financial performance, business ethics, macroeconomic sustainability etc).

I would suggest you t read more about the theoretical framework of CSR.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000039399.90587.34#page-1

In my opinion, the most popular source for analyzing definitions of CSR is paper written by Dalhsrud (37 definitions of CSR).

But I would say that nowedays the growing meaning in conceptualization has publication of M. Porter and M Kramer (in Harvard Business Review about shared value -economic and social), in which they develop CSR concept in two schools - competitive advantage and resource based theory.

I would also recommend book written by Allen and Husted about Corporate Social Strategy, in which they suggest that companies shoul create not only business oriented strategy, but also social strategy (the point of view is built on the stakeholders theory)

In my opinion, the most popular source for analyzing definitions of CSR is paper written by Dalhsrud (37 definitions of CSR).

But I would say that nowedays the growing meaning in conceptualization has publication of M. Porter and M Kramer (in Harvard Business Review about shared value -economic and social), in which they develop CSR concept in two schools - competitive advantage and resource based theory.

I would also recommend book written by Allen and Husted about Corporate Social Strategy, in which they suggest that companies shoul create not only business oriented strategy, but also social strategy (the point of view is built on the stakeholders theory)

While there are many definitions of corporate social responsibility (CSR). I really like this paper by van Marrewijk (2003)

Concepts and Definitions of CSR and Corporate Sustainability: Between Agency and Communion

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1023331212247

Corporate Social Responsibility is a form of global business regulation--KPMG describes its reporting as "de facto business law". My article "Defining CSR: Problems and Solutions" published in the J Bus Ethics defines it as "international private business self-regulation." It used to be just an individual firm's decision but is now an obligation on businesses around the globe. Here's the link https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-014-2281-x It is also on my researchgate profile.

Best of luck!

Ben